Oki Sato, Chief Designer and Founder of nendo, was born in 1977 in Toronto, Canada. He received his Master of Architecture from Waseda University, Tokyo in 2002 and established design studio nendo in the same year. In 2006, he was chosen by Newsweek magazine as one of “The 100 Most Respected Japanese”. He was widely acclaimed and had won many major awards that included 2012 Designer of the Year from both Wallpaper* and Elle Deco magazine and 2015 Designer of the Year from Maison & Objet. He was invited as the Guest of Honour for 2013 Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair. More recently in 2016, he was listed No. 1 on the 'Designers Hot List' in dezeen and the Jury Chair for the Golden Pin Design Award.